V 


ft 


^^ntcrican  (Lnographical  anb  ^statistical  .^ocictn, 

IN  Tin:  riTY  OF  NEW  YOT^K.  MAY  V>,  IS-V!. 


DAVIJ)  KVKIIKTT  WHEELKJi. 


• 


AVERY  ARCHITECTURAL  AND  FINE  ARTS  LIBRARY 
GIFT  OF  SEYMOUR  B.  DURST  OLD  YORK  LIBRARY 


THE 


NEW  YOPiK  HARBOR, 


AND 

THE   IMPROVEMENTS    NECESSARY  FOR  ITS  ACCOMMO- 
DATION OF  COMMERCE,  AND  THE  REMOVAL  OF 
THE  DANGERS  AT  HELL  GATE. 


A  PAPER 


READ    BEFORE  THE 
IN  THE  CITY  OF  NEW  YORK,  MAY  15,  185G, 


BY 

DAVID  EVERETT  WHEELER. 


NEW  YOKK : 
J.  F.  TROW,  PRINTER,  377  &  379  BROADWAY, 

CORNER  OF  WHITE  STREET. 
185G. 


1 25(Sr. 


PELATIAH  PERIT,  Esq. 

Dear  Sir  : — I  take  tlie  liberty  of  dedicatiDg  these  pages  to  you.  If  of 
value,  the  dedication  is  appropriate,  for  you  have  passed  the  meridian  of 
life  in  the  pursuits  of  Commerce,  and  been  acknowledged  one  of  the  first 
shipping  merchants  of  this  Continent. 

Accept,  Dear  Sir,  this  tribute  from  one  who  still  remembers  a  remark 
early  made  to  him  by  yourself,  that  desert  in  this  City  will  always  meet 
with  success. 

Respectfully  yours, 

D.  E.  WHEELER. 

New  York,  May  28th,  1856. 


PAPER. 


Mr.  President  and  Gentlemen  of  the  American 
Geograhpical  &  Statistical  Society  : — It  would  per- 
haps be  becoming  in  me  to  apologize  to  the  Society  for 
troubling  it  with  any  remarks  upon  so  trite  a  subject, 
as  that  of  the  Harbor  of  New  York ;  but  it  seemed 
appropriate  to  a  Society,  formed  for  the  purpose  of 
collecting  and  dilffusing  Geographical  and  Statistical 
information,  which  owes  its  existence  to  the  State  which 
has  within  its  peculiar  jurisdiction  a  Harbor  which  has 
been  and  will  be  one  of  the  great  avenues  for  a  nation's 
wealth. 

New  York  and  its  adjacent  waters  and  head-lands 
have  delighted  more  eyes  than  those  of  the  great  navi- 
gator, who  first  passed  Sandy  Hook  in  1609 ;  and  others 
have  lived  to  enjoy  some  of  the  fruits  of  that  great 
man's  discovery,  while  more  are  to  be  possessed  in  the 
great  future  that  is  before  us.  The  history  of  nature 
is  not  limited  to  the  short  span  of  three  score  years 
and  ten,  but  keeps  its  onward  march  without  universal 
decay ;  and  its  parts  always  find  their  fellows,  which 


6 

link  the  past,  the  present,  and  the  near,  and  distant 
future,  into  one  long,  continuous  chain. 

The  past  of  New  York  is  but  a  moment,  and  its 
present  is  bound  to  all  future  time.  Its  yesterday  is 
its  discovery,  its  growth  has  scarcely  marked  a  day,  and 
its  ultimate  destiny  will  only  have  been  realized  when 
our  government  shall  have  crumbled,  our  rivers  ceased 
to  flow,  and  our  mountains  melted  like  wax. 

This  existence  is  to  be  modified  by  man,  and  its  his- 
tory, written  or  unwritten,  the  successive  acts  of  gene- 
rations of  men.  It  will  wash  and  sweeten  the  lands 
and  rocks  which  cradle  it,  without  progress,  if  man 
ceases  to  use  or  improve  what  the  great  Creator  has 
made  for  him. 

The  page  of  its  history,  belonging  to  this  genera- 
tion, will  be  such  as  we  authorize,  such  as  we  perfect. 
The  past  we  may  censure,  while  we  cannot  correct ; 
the  present  we  must  improve. 

It  was  the  past  and  the  present  which  induced  the 
Legislature  of  our  State,  at  its  session  in  1855,  to  pass 
"  an  act  for  the  appointment  of  a  commission  for  the 
preservation  of  the  Harbor  of  New  York  from  en- 
croachments, and  to  prevent  obstructions  to  the  neces- 
sary navigation  thereof." 

This  commission  was  deemed  necessary  to  gather  in- 
formation, upon  which  wise  legislation  might  be  based ; 
and  the  Commissioners  have  commenced  their  duties, 
and  called  to  their  aid  the  best  talent  and  ability  this 
country,  and  perhaps  any  other,  can  furnish;  and 
they  have  made  their  surveys  and  soundings,  their  tidal 


7 


examinations  and  charts,  and  sent  them  forth  as  their 
first,  but  unfinished  work. 

Enough,  however,  has  been  done,  to  show  that  the 
subject  is  one  of  paramount  importance  to  this  City, 
this  State,  this  Nation.  That  the  great  Harbor  of  the 
Atlantic  coast  on  this  Continent  must  be  protected  by 
the  men  of  the  present  day,  and  its  national  advan- 
tages improved  for  its  own  and  the  benefit  of  the  com- 
mercial world. 

The  practical  and  scientific  men,  connected  with 
that  commission,  say : 

It  is  stated  l)y  McCulloch,  that  urgent  necessity 
led  to  the  excavation  of  the  first  wet  docks  in  London, 
and  that  this  necessity  was  the  want  of  "  a  proper  accom- 
modation for  the  shipping  resorting  to  London."  The 
port  was  blocked  up,  the  quays  were  insufficient  for 
the  business,  and  such  was  the  confusion  and  crowd 
that  the  most  barefaced  robberies  were  committed 
with  impunity.  We  have  not  yet  reached  this  state 
of  things  in  New  York,  but  if  what  we  read  and  hear 
is  true,  there  is  a  great  existing  want  of  wharf  accom- 
modations; and  there  is  also  a  great  deal  of  theft 
along  the  river  fronts,  to  prevent  which  it  has  been 
requisite  to  establish  a  separate  river  police. 

To  some  extent,  then,  the  causes  which  first  drove 
the  people  and  government  of  London  to  the  construc- 
tion of  wet  docks  in  the  beginning  of  this  century, 
have  appeared  here.  There  are  now  undoubtedly 
frequent  complaints  of  the  crowded  state  of  our  rivers, 
of  delay  and  difficulty  in  procuring  good  berths,  of 


8 


want  of  accommodation  for  discharging  cargoes,  of 
scarcity  and  distance  of  commodious  warehouses.  We 
hear  these  complaints  from  our  friends,  and  read  them 
in  the  daily  journals.  And  these  are  the  very  com- 
plaints, according  to  Mr.  Jacob,  which,  reaching  the 
merchants,  ship-owners  and  government,  in  1799,  led 
to  the  passage  of  the  act  granting  power  to  build  the 
West  India  Docks,  the  first  in  London. 

It  tasked  all  the  resources  of  the  su23reme  intellect 
and  power  of  Mr.  Pitt  to  triumph  over  the  obstacles. 
But  how  grand  and  beneficial  has  been  the  influence  of 
these  docks  (from  the  West  India  to  the  Victoria) 
upon  the  commercial  prosperit}^  of  London !  Without 
them,  her  progress  must  have  been  seriously  impeded, 
if  not  positively  arrested.  They  are  the  receptacles  of 
her  trade.  Into  them  is  poared  the  wealth  of  the 
world,  which  but  for  them  must  have  found  elsewhere 
a  place  of  deposit.  They  are  indeed  the  means  as 
well  as  the  symbols  of  the  commercial  greatness  of  the 
city. 

Liverpool  also  owes  to  her  docks  her  rapid  rise 
and  healthy  development.  Bristol  and  Hull  too  testify 
to  the  superior  advantages  of  enclosed  docks  over 
every  other  system.  But  all  these  places,  London, 
Liverpool,  Bristol,  Hull,  differ  from  New- York  in  some 
essential  respects  affecting  this  question  of  docks — such 
as  want  of  space,  rise  of  tide,  imperfect  anchorage,  bad 
channels,  &c. 

Liverpool  was  merely  a  fishing  town,  without 
foreign  tonnage,  when  her  docks  were  begun  in  1708. 


9 


Amona'  the  harbors  of  the  world  none  exceed  New- 
York,  and  but  few  can  compare  with  it  in  beauty  and 
commodicusness.  Its  wide-spreading  bays,  its  roomy 
and  deep  channels,  its  numerous,  long,  and  well-washed 
water  fronts,  are  the  suitable  and  ample  provisions  of 
nature  for  its  advancinsr  trade.  But  immense  as  this 
harbor  is,  there  is  a  limit  to  its  capacity,  and  to  what 
may  be  called  its  natural  resources.  The  system  of 
wet  basins  must  be  adopted  sooner  or  later  even  here. 

Taking  the  present  ratio  of  increase  as  our  guide, 
how  far  must  we  extend  our  sight  into  the  future  to 
discern  in  New- York  an  amount  of  commerce  equal  to 
that  of  London  at  this  day  ?  And  before  the  com- 
merce of  New- York  has  increased  to  this  extent,  docks 
will  have  become  absolutely  indispensable,  not  only  on 
account  of  their  economical  disposal  of  space,  but  on 
account  of  their  economical  distribution  of  time  and 
labor.  It  is  desirable,  then,  that  we,  by  proper  pru- 
dential measures,  should  prevent  the  evils  and  expense 
to  which  London  has  been  subjected,  and  at  the  same 
time  it  must  be  remembered  that  the  question  is  actu- 
ally to  be  settled  now,  at  least  for  a  time. 

What  we  have  hitherto  said  concerning  docks,  is 
independent  of  some  recent  changes  which  have  ma- 
terially altered  the  commerce  of  the  seas,  the  business 
of  ports,  and  the  internal  trade  through  rivers;  we 
mean,  of  course,  the  improvements  in  naval  architec- 
ture, the  changes  in  commerce  which  produced  these 
improvements,  the  employment  of  steam-tugs  in  har- 
bors, and  of  steam  tow-boats  in  rivers.    All  these  are 


10 


the  efficient  causes  of  a  celerity  and  disiDatch  in  the 
transmission  of  merchandise,  in  the  interchange  of  com- 
merce, and  in  the  transaction  of  business,  far  exceeding 
any  thing  before  known.  And  they  need  wet  basins 
as  their  only  sufficient  aids,  as  the  subservient  instru- 
ments of  that  expedition  to  which  they  all  conduce,  as, 
indeed,  complemental  parts  of  a  whole. 

If  vessels  or  freight-boats  are  not  provided  with  im- 
mediate facilities  for  discharging  their  burdens  when 
they  reach  their  place  of  destination;  if  they  are 
obliged  to  wait  in  the  stream,  or  to  unload  without 
suitable  conveniences,  all  the  other  means  of  haste 
would  seem  to  be,  in  a  measure,  thrown  away.  These 
are  not  facts  and  considerations  brought  together  or 
invented  for  effect,  but  they  are  derived  and  deduced 
from  the  practice  of  a  great,  commercial  nation ;  and, 
when  rightly  estimated,  they  lead  to  the  conclusion 
that  the  business  of  New  York  cannot  much  longer  be 
carried  on  as  now,  but  will  require  a  system  of  wet  ba- 
sins, built  with  materials  and  upon  a  plan  commensu- 
rate with  the  ojDulent  resources  of  the  State  and  City, 
and  the  stableness  of  their  prosperity. 

I  have  made  use  of  these  long  extracts  because  they 
were  written  over  the  signatures  of  Bache,  Totten  and 
Davis,  men  whose  opinions  are  authority. 

An  extract  from  Lieutenant-commanding  Charles 
H.  Davis,  adds  another  important  fact  for  consideration 
in  this  general  view  of  the  Harbor  of  New  York,  for 
he  says : 

Of  the  sailing  vessels  that  enter  the  Hell  Gate  pas- 


11 


sage,  it  is  estimated  that  one  in  fifty  sustains  more  or 
less  injury,  by  being  forced  by  the  violence  of  the  cur- 
rents on  the  rocks  or  shoals,  and  the  accident  to  the 
Oregon,  which  nearly  proved  fatal  to  her  passengers, 
shows  that  even  steamboats,  with  a  motive  power  that 
keeps  them  under  perfect  control,  and  guided  by  most 
experienced  pilots,  are  not  secure  from  peril.  Such  an 
improvement  in  the  channels  of  Hell  Gate  as  would  ren- 
der them  navio:able  to  vessels  of  all  classes  under  com- 
mon  circumstances,  would  supply  to  the  commerce  of 
New  York  a  new  outlet  to  the  sea,  and  in  a  different 
direction  from  the  harbor  channels,  and  available  when 
these  were  temporarily  closed  by  adverse  winds,  or 
other  causes,  and  would,  therefore,  be  a  permanent  and 
valuable  resource,  both  for  vessels  outward  bound  and 
for  those  returninor  home. 

The  dangers  in  this  channel  arise  from  the  great 
strength  of  the  currents,  and  the  number  and  positions 
of  the  rocks  and  reefs.  The  strength  of  the  current  is 
such,  that  sailing  vessels  can  only  stem  its  force  or  es- 
cape from  it  by  a  commanding  breeze. 

And  Lieutenant-commanding  Porter,  who  was  en- 
gaged in  the  same  survey,  says : 

In  a  place  where  the  interests  of  so  many  are  at 
stake,  the  want  of  attention  to  the  navigation  of  Hell 
Gate  appears  like  culpable  neglect.  No  one  can  form 
an  idea  of  the  number  of  v^essels  that  go  on  shore  dur- 
ing the  course  of  a  month.  Fifty  went  on  shore  dur- 
ing the  period  I  was  occupied  there  (two  months),  and 
many  of  them  were  much  injured.    I  am  convinced 


12 


that  if  proper  measures  were  taken  to  protect  the  com- 
mercial interests  of  this  great  City,  not  one  vessel  would 
be  lost  in  five  years. 

The  importance  of  these  two  statements  cannot 
be  fully  realized,  and  therefore  I  add,  that  the  regis- 
tered and  enrolled  tonnage  of  the  port  of  New  York, 
in  the  year  1824,  was  263,145  tons,  and  in  the  year 
1855,  thirty-one  years  thereafter,  1,1^88,234  tons.  That 
the  tonnage  entered  the  District  of  New  York  in  1821 
was  171,963  tons,  and  in  the  year  1854,  thirty-three 
years  thereafter,  1,919,313J  tons.  That  the  tounage 
whicli  cleared  in  the  District  of  New  York,  in  1821, 
was  154,472  tons,  and  in  the  year  1854,  thirty-three 
years  thereafter,  l,528,104f  tons.  That  the  vcilue  of 
the  imports  in  the  year  1854  v/ere  $305,780,253,  and 
the  exports  in  the  same  year,  $316,403,634 ;  and  in  the 
same  year  there  arrived  at  the  port  of  New  York  by 
our  State  Kailroads  and  Canals,  2,935,713  tons,  and 
760  canal  boats,  with  an  aggregate  tonnage  of  74,000 
tons,  lay  in  our  harbor  in  the  single  month  of  December 
last.  To  this  astounding  statement  must  be  added 
the  almost  countless  amount  of  property  which  arrived 
at  and  departed  from  this  port  through  other  channels 
during  the  same  period. 

For  this  great  commerce  what  has  the  United  States, 
the  State,  or  City  of  New  York,  as  such,  done  ?  Com- 
paratively nothing.  The  Harbor  is  emj^hatically  one 
God  has  given  to  man,  and  the  improvement  he  has 
made,  or  commenced,  has  been  almost  exclusively  indi- 
vidual in  character,  and  for  single  personal  ends.  The 


13 


Lispenard  Meadows,  which  might  have  been  excavated 
and  made  valuable  wet  docks,  have  been  filled  up  and 
covered  with  buildings ;  and  the  Stuy vesant  Meadows 
once  the  almost  natural  resting-place  for  ships,  have 
ceased  to  be  objects  for  that  purpose.  The  solid  earth 
has  gone  into  the  East  River  further  than  it  should, 
and  until  it  has  almost  made  a  ship  "  race  coui*se "  of 
this  beautiful  arm  of  the  sea ;  and  the  Hudson  River, 
northerly  to  Forty-fourth  street,  can  scarcely  claim  a 
shore ;  for  her  channel  skirts  along  the  jDiers  that 
pierce  her  from  her  easterly  border. 

Ships  were  first  moored  at  the  mouth  of  rivers,  and 
the  owners  were  obliged  to  load  and  discharge  them 
under  great  disadvantages.  These  necessary  accompani- 
ments of  commerce  have  been  gradually  giving  place 
to  improvements  for  the  safety  of  the  vessel,  and  the 
saving  of  labor  in  the  loading  and  unloading. 

These  improvements  at  the  Harbor  of  New  York 
have  not  kept  pace  with  the  growth  of  commerce,  for 
our  wooden  piers  and  distant  storehouses  but  illy  com- 
pare with  the  docks  and  warehouses  of  other  com- 
mercial nations,  or  even  with  some  of  our  own  inland 
cities.  Competition  for  the  commercial  mastery  of  the 
world  has  found  this  country,  youthful  as  she  is,  not 
behind  her  older  rivals  in  naval  architecture  or  scien- 
tific improvements  in  the  navigation  of  the  seas ;  and, 
unless  many  are  very  much  mistaken,  the  time  has 
arrived  when  we  must  show  the  same  skill,  if  not 
superiority,  in  our  docks,  basins  and  warehouses. 

The  docks  at  London  are  excavations  of  the  solid 


14 


earth  on  the  borders  of  the  Thames,  and  those  finished 
and  in  progress  embrace  over  one  thousand  acres  of 
land,  and  they  are  walled  up  with  massive  stone  walls, 
with  an  average  depth  of  about  twenty-five  feet  of 
water ;  and  those  of  Liverpool  cover  an  area  of  more 
than  six  hundred  acres,  with  a  frontage  of  over  fourteen 
miles. 

Artificial  aids  of  this  character  are  not  confined  to 
Great  Britain,  but  they  are  common  to  most  of  the  sea- 
ports in  the  Eastern  Hemisphere ;  but  one  of  the 
great  elements  of  the  success  of  the  commerce  of  Eng- 
land, is  her  great  outlays  for  an  economical  disposition 
of  the  products  and  manufactures  of  the  world. 

Few,  if  any,  more  vessels  can  lie  safely  south  of 
Perry  street,  on  the  easterly  side  of  the  North  Eiyer, 
or  south  of  Corlear's  Hook,  on  the  westerly  side  of  the 
East  River,  and  our  steamers,  ships,  and  canal-boats, 
have  already  begun  to  find  berths  on  the  Long  Island 
shore,  and  that  of  our  sister  State,  New  Jersey. 

These  shores  present  many  valuable  advantages  for 
the  building  of  wet  docks  and  warehouses,  and  they 
have  attracted  genius,  enterjDrise,  and  capital.  The  At- 
lantic Dock  and  GowanusBay  may  be  alluded  to,  without 
disparagement ;  and  the  immense  improvements  already 
decided  upon  on  the  New  Jersey  shore,  show  that 
there  will  be  other  claims  in  our  Harbor  for  the  com- 
merce of  the  world,  beside  the  Citv  of  New  York. 
Nature,  too,  has  not  been  partial  in  her  gifts,  for  the 
westerly  shore  of  the  Hudson,  below  Fort  Lee,  is  well 
protected  from  storms,  and  wet  docks  could  be  built 


15 


from  Hoboken  to  the  Kill  Van  KuU,  on  a  line  with 
Robin's  Reef,  which  would  enclose  an  immense  field  ot 
water  for  ships,  and  points  of  land  for  w^arehouses — 
points,  too,  exceedingly  favorable  as  depots  for  the 
productions  of  the  Western  World.  There  are, 
however,  some  objections  to  these  locations  in  New 
Jersey,  and  they  may  be  found,  practically,  greater 
than  the  mere  theorist  would  imai^ine.  The  de- 
posit  which  flows  dow^n  the  Hudson,  notwithstanding 
its  wonderful  formation  to  prevent  it,  is  considerable, 
and  the  fact  that  the  most  of  that  deposit  is  left  upon 
the  New  Jersey  shore,  and  never  carried  to  the 
entrance  of  the  low^er  bay,  is  another  of  Nature's 
wonderful  works;  for  the  deposit  of  the  Hudson,  if 
carried  to  the  mouth  of  the  Harbor,  like  the  deposit  of 
the  great  Mississippi,  we  should  soon  have  to  find 
another  channel  to  the  sea  for  ships  of  large  tonnage. 

The  New  York  Harbor  has  an  entrance  beside  that 
at  Sandy  Hook,  and  one,  if  Hell  Gate  could  be  passed 
with  safety,  far  superior  for  all  vessels  bound  to  New 
York  from  the  east,  or  from  New  York  to  the  east. 
But  this  maelstrom  of  destruction  has  always  been  a 
terror  to  its  navisfators,  and  must  remain  so,  unless  real 
obstacles  are  removed. 

These,  thus  far,  have  baffled  human  skill,  yet  we 
may  hope  that  science  w^ill,  in  some  form,  perfect  her 
wwk,  and  w^e  be  enabled  to  see  in  our  Harbor  the  Levia- 
than that,  we  are  now  told,  is  too  large  to  enter  any 
harbor  of  the  Atlantic  coast  in  the  Western  He  mis 
phere. 


16 


I  have  thus  far  scarcely  alluded  to  the  immense 
fleet  of  canal-boats  constantly  seeking  a  quiet  resting- 
place  in  our  waters,  and  not  at  all  to  the  fact,  that  the 
vessels  which  we  call  boats  are  beginning  to  be  equal 
in  size  to  the  largest  ships  of  a  former  age  ;  and  that 
they  have  but  just  begun  to  bring  the  annual  products 
of  the  Western  World  to  the  Atlantic  shore. 

These  must  have  a  quiet  place  of  rest,  and  where 
shall  it  be  when  the  foreign  commerce  of  New  York 
is  doubled,  quadrupled,  which  will  be  within  the  next 
quarter  of  a  century,  if  man  does  his  part  for  its 
growth. 

Some  plan  for  the  aid  of  our  commerce  commensu- 
rate with  its  importance  must  be  commenced,  must 
be  perfected ;  else  New  York,  as  New  York  proper, 
will  find  that  she  is  not  the  great  warehouse  of  the 
Continent.  Many  have  been  suggested,  but  none  so 
magnificent,  so  appropriate  as  that  of  Mr.  Clark  while 
he  was  mayor  of  the  City,  and  changes  have  taken 
place  since  that  period  which  render  his  project  im- 
practicable. 

If  I  suggest  another  plan,  and  it  is  deemed 
impracticable,  I  shall  only  be  in  the  position  of  Mr. 
Clark,  excepting  that  his  j)i'oject  had  official  sanction, 
and  mine  will  be  without  it. 

I  propose  to  have  erected  a  break-water  or  dam 
across  the  East  River,  from  a  point  at  or  near  the  foot 
of  Fulton-street,  Brooklyn,  to  the  New  York  shore,  six 
or  eight  hundred  feet  wide,  with  four  or  more  single 
locks.    Two  sufficiently  large  for  the  free  entrance  of 


17 


ships  of  the  very  largest  class ;  and  others  of  smaller 
dimensions,  for  vessels  of  the  smaller  class;  and 
another  break-water  or  dam  at  the  south  end  of 
Blackwell's  Island,  of  about  the  same  width,  with  two 
locks  on  each  side  of  the  island :  one,  for  the  entrance 
and  departure  of  the  largest  class  of  vessels,  and  the 
other  of  the  smaller  class. 

This  will  make  a  wet  dock  sufficiently  large  to  ac- 
commodate all  the  shipping  that  will  seek  our  harbor 
as  long  as  this  island  is  inhabited  by  man. 

The  distance  across  the  river  at  the  southerly  point 
is  about  thirteen  hundred  feet,  and  at  the  northerly 
point,  about  two  thousand  feet  including  the  island, 
and  the  bottom  of  both  points  is  principally  rock. 
The  break- waters  or  dams  would  themselves  furnish 
foundations  for  warehouses,  and  the  tide,  doubtless, 
power  sufficient  to  load  and  unload  all  the  vessels 
which  could  lie  at  them. 

A  careful  topographical  survey  might  indicate 
better  points  for  these  great  works,  but  that  would 
not  vary  essentially  the  general  design. 

The  plan  should  also  embrace  the  navigation  of 
Harlem  Eiver,  which  would  probably  require  the 
erection  of  one  or  more  single  locks,  to  guard  against 
the  evils  arising  from  difference  in  the  time  of  the 
tide  in  the  North  and  East  Eivers. 

These  suggestions  will  not  be  fully  apprehended 
except  by  an  examination  of  the  map  of  the  city,  and 
that  portion  of  land  or  water  adjacent  to  it.* 

*  To  aid  the  reader  ia  at  once  apprehending  these  suggestions,  I  have 


18 


This  improvement  will  give  a  Basin  as  quiet  a» 
the  bosom  of  a  small  inland  lake,  of  about  four  miles 
in  length,  with  an  average  width  of  nearly  three 
quarters  of  a  mile,  and  a  depth  sufficient  for  any  vessel 
ever  built  or  supposed  possible  to  be  built. 

It  will  also  contain  within  its  area  the  Navy  Yard, 
and  furnish  a  quiet  anchorage  for  all  the  navy  the  Gen^ 
eral  Government  will  ever  build. 

It  will  be  an  enclosure  of  a  river  of  the  sea,  and  receive* 
no  washings  from  mountains  or  deposits  from  valleys. 
It  will  be  an  enclosed  body  of  pure  salt  water,  and  be 
devoted  to  a  commerce  which  makes  New  York  what, 
it  now  is,  and  which  will  make  New  York  the  greatest 
commercial  city  of  the  world,  if  man  completes  his  part 
of  that  great  work  which  a  wise  Providence  has  left 
him  to  do. 

This  work  completed,  will  at  all  times  give  vessels 
comparatively  quiet  berths  north  of  Buttermilk  Channel, 
and  enable  the  Ferry  Boats  to  pass  to  and  from  our 
easterly  neighbors  in  much  less  time  than  is  now  occu- 
pied, and  without  danger. 

It  will  take  away  all  real  danger  in  passing  Hell 
Gate,  and  enable  steamers  to  pass  through  that  "  marvel 
of  waters "  with  as  much  ease  and  safety  as  they  navi- 
gate any  portion  of  the  Sound,  and  vessels  propelled  by 
wind  will  only  be  troubled  by  a  narrow  and  winding 
channel. 

It  will  enable  steamers  or  ships  of  the  very  largest 

appended  to  these  pages  a  small  map,  but  a  large  chart  would  be  much 
better. 


19 


class  to  enter  Long  Island  Sound  east  of  Montauk  Point, 
pass  by  an  inland  sea  for  a  distance  of  one  hundred  and 
fifty  miles,  which  may  be  lighted  almost  as  perfectly  as 
the  streets  of  a  city,  and  find  a  berth  at  the  side  of 
warehouses,  if  necessary,  in  water  thirty  feet  deep. 

It  will  also  enable  these  same  steamers  or  ships  to 
pass  from  those  berths  outwardly,  on  the  west  side  of 
Blackwell's  Island,  with  forty-eight  feet  water,  and  by 
the  Gridiron  at  Hell  Gate  with  thirty-five  feet  water, 
and  the  Frying  Pan  with  thirty  one  feet  water,  and 
thence  through  the  same  sea  to  the  haven  where  they 
would  be. 

The  removal  of  rocks  in  Hell  Gate  would  give  a 
wider  channel,  but,  if  the  furious  and  conflicting  cur- 
rents of  the  waters  are  not  checked,  the  danger  will 
scarcely  be  lessened.  The  currents  are  the  real  cause 
of  danger. 

These  improvements  are  not  to  be  made  by  a  mere 
will,  or  without  great  outlay  of  capital.    Both  are  re- 
quired, and  both  maybe  found  if  the  project  is  feasible^ 
and  wise.  ~ 

The  commission  to  which  I  have  alluded  is  evidence 
of  the  first ;  and  the  expense,  great  or  small,  may  be 
borne  by  a  people  whose  government  extends  from  the 
shores  of  the  Atlantic  to  the  shores  of  the  Pacific,  or  by 
a  people  who  have  made  the  State  of  New  York  ]ne- 
morable  by  her  canals,  or  a  City  which  has  projected, 
and  partially  completed,  the  most  magnificent  water 
works  known  in  ancient  or  modern  times,  and  which 
has  planned  for  the  outlay  of  many  millions  of  dollars?j 


20 


for  fancied  pleasure  grounds  or  a  place  for  healthful 
recreation  ;  and  to  either  of  them  it  will  not  appear  too 
vast  or  too  costly. 

When,  too,  we  add  that  the  nation  from  which  we 
sprung,  since  the  formation  of  our  Government  has  ex- 
pended in  docks  for  the  benefit  of  commerce  over  two 
hundred  millions  of  dollars,  and  is  still  adding  to  that 
enormous  amount,  we  may  be  satisfied  that  the  children, 
if  necessary,  can  accomplish  as  much  as  the  fathers. 

But  there  is  a  vast  difference  in  the  position  of  the 
work  I  propose  and  the  great  works  to  which  I  have 
alluded.  The  Harbor  of  New  York  is  large  and  com- 
modious of  itself,  and  the  Basin  I  propose  nature  has 
already  excavated,  and  made  her  sides,  leaving  only  to 
be  formed  two  narrow  ends,  and  these  ends  she  has 
provided  with  a  foundation.  Nature  has  also  given  to 
New  York  an  abundance  of  material  for  building  any 
permanent  docks  which  may  be  necessary. 

With  these  bountiful  provisions  and  the  discoveries 
of  science,  the  work  may  all  be  done  in  a  short  time, 
and  comparatively  at  a  very  small  expense ;  an  expense 
even  within  the  means  of  individual  wealth,  if  a  small 
portion  of  the  direct  advantage  should  be  received  as  a 
partial  return  for  the  outlay. 


